At least he got a Perry autograph

Wesley Strackbein was among the rapturous Republicans in New Orleans Saturday afternoon shouting “Run, Rick Run” at the Republican Leadership Conference, but unlike the cheering masses around him, his enthusiasm was, shall we say, tempered. I met Strackbein while he stood in line for Rick Perry to sign his anti-Washington screed, “Fed Up!” He told me he was a seventh-generation Texan who was in the oil and gas business and also did media relations for a Christian ministry.

He was waiting in line not to praise Perry but to confront him about his lack of support for the TSA anti-groping bill sponsored by state Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview, and state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston. As co-founder of TSATyranny.com, he had made the nine-hour drive to New Orleans from his home in Johnson City the night before.

I didn’t realize what he had in mind at first, although I was mildly surprised when he — and only he — expressed reservations about a possible Perry presidential run. (Unlike the lawyer from Connecticut, also standing in line, who told me that Perry is “rugged, manly and conservative. . . and will beat Obama handily.”) Strackbein acknowledged that Perry has “presided over a solid economy,” but he had reservations. “I personally question him at times about being a politician, not a statesman,” he said.

When he got to the head of the line and told the governor he was disappointed about his lack of support for the anti-groping bill, Perry said “Woo!” and then went on to say there wasn’t enough time in the special session to round up support for the bill. “They don’t have the votes on either side,” the governor said, trying to move Strackbein along. “That’s what I told them. I said, ‘Bring me in a multitude in votes.'”

Strackbein was polite with the governor but displeased. “This is a flimsy excuse, as the bills considered in the special session and the length of the session itself are the sole prerogative of Perry to determine,” he said later. “His comment, in effect, was: ‘I’m powerless to do what I’ve been empowered to do.'”

Before he drove back to Johnson City Saturday night, Strackbein likely walked past one of those souvenir shops that feature T-shirts proclaiming, “MY PARENTS WENT TO NEW ORLEANS AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY T-SHIRT.” Strackbein, who said he made it back in time for church in Waring, Tex., Sunday morning, didn’t take home a T-shirt, but he did have a signed copy of the governor’s book.